Telecom layoffs: Field Engineer marketplace to end Indian engineers' woes, to help them find work

Field Engineer, a global on-demand service for telecom companies, may prove to be saviour for engineers in India that may lose jobs due to the intense consolidationDanish Khan | ETTelecom | August 01, 2017, 12:31 IST

NEW DELHI: Field Engineer, a global on-demand service for telecom companies, may prove to be saviour for engineers in India that may lose jobs due to the intense consolidation drive among telecom carriers in the country.

The telecom sector slashed 10,000 jobs last year and the ongoing stress will further lead to reducing 30,000-40,000 jobs more this year due to the ongoing consolidation drive, according to analysts.

The New York-based start-up is providing its platform for engineers to connect with businesses that telecom companies, system integrators, re-sellers et al. across the globe and pick up projects on-demand basis. Businesses can use the platform to post requirement for hourly, fixed, recurring and special projects.

“Field Engineer was started because of the new gig economy acceptance in the world. Everybody is looking for work, which is not necessarily full time. In India, layoffs are expected due to the ongoing consolidation. People will be looking for work and they will have a platform to go to,” Malik Zakaria, CEO of Field Engineer told ET.

Field Engineer started in August 2016, and is operating in India through its Hyderabad office since October 2016. The company was founded by Zakaria, who has more than 20 years of telecom and professional services experience, having worked with companies US-based AT&T. The company is fully funded till next 12 months, and will look for institutional funding for expansion, Zakaria said, adding that its revenues will reach $5 million by year-end.

The platform has the second largest market in India after the USA. It is providing services in 140 countries.

Telecom companies that have operations in multiple countries typically look for talent on project basis, and wouldn’t like to hire full time employees due to cost issue. Field Engineer already works with Tata Communications, which has services in 90 countries. “They don't have workforce in 90 countries, but they need workforce once or twice a week in any country they operate in,” Zakaria said.

The executive said that traditional channels typically take 4-5 weeks to find resource and add another 40% margin to the rates of engineers, which makes difficult for companies to acquire.

“If you employ somebody for a period that you don't need then you are bleeding money…the outsourcing companies don't have the control anymore, now we are empowering engineers around the world to go and bid for projects, and make as much money they want,” he further added.

Engineers in India can apply for projects sitting in India to anywhere in the world, and competitive environment will benefit them as engineers in developed countries charge more for the same skill set, Zakaria said.

The company is currently in talks with a few large telecom companies. “They are very interested, and we are expected to sign up at least one company within a month,” he said.

Field Engineer provides resources that are available immediately with background check and skill ready. Businesses can post a project on the platform and can find talent in minutes.

Field Engineer doesn’t charge businesses for the talent, rather gets 10% cut from engineers’ remuneration. “We don't charge companies as they only pay for the talent upon the completion of the project. There's no additional cost for the businesses,” Zakaria said. “We do the time tracking and payment processing, and distribution of funds.”

The company has so far completed projects in over 25 countries, including Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Germany and some Asian countries.

Engineers at the time of register list all their skills and certification, along with the market rate. They can further negotiate the pay with businesses.

“We have talent from 140 countries registered on our platform. We have more than 15000 engineers registered today with 200 different certification skills and 4500 work orders completed. We are now looking at 50,000 engineers on our platform in 12 months with 500 different skills,” Zakaria said.

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“There will be a new brand identity — work has started on it,” a senior consultant working on the merged company’s new identity said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to non-disclosure agreements.